Folie à deux
by starlightexpresso
Summary: What is worse than trusting a pretty girl with an ugly secret? Trusting a girl who has lots of them. When Ezra Fitz, a young English teacher, encourages his student, Aria Montgomery, to join a theatre group, and therefore gets closer to her, strAnge things start to happen. But it's not her fault, is it? And he's the one that understands her... or that's what he thinks.
1. 1 Gifted

**A/N**: Hi guys! I haven't been online on fanfiction for a while now, but I started missing it and now I have a new story for you. This is my first PLL story, but I hope you'll like it anyway. In this version Aria and Ezra do not meet in the bar, he's just her teacher and it's all (at least for now, if you know what I mean ;)). As usual, sorry for any grammar/vocabulary mistakes - English's not my native language.

Be warned: You may not except it, but this story's gonna be really dark and twisted. Believe me.

* * *

The silence of the classroom was interrupted as Aria Montgomery raised her hand and her voice to volunteer to recitation.

"Mr. Fitz? May I go first?", she asked politely, waiting for his approval.

"Of course, Aria. Go ahead, the stage is yours", he encouraged her, gesturing to the place in front of the blackboard. It was hard for him to fight the urge to smile. He knew she was going to volunteer, he just knew that. She always does. She liked to speak in public, it was as if she was gaining energy and strength from it. And Ezra had to hand it to her, she was indeed a good speaker - while listening to her, you could easily feel all the emotions, all the feelings running through her as if they were your own, and it was an overwhelming experience. He enjoyed listening to her making a speech, listening to her, even though he wouldn't have admitted it.

"Thank you", she smiled shyly and made her way through the room, filled with desks and tuneless sighs of the students feeling the evanescent relief. Spencer Hastings gave her a supportive look with a tiny spark of rivalry to it and with it she began to recite.

Suddenly the class went quiet and all the attention was paid to her. She started quiet - a soft whisper escaping her mouth, full of warmth yet somehow broken, like a silent flutter of butterfly's wings. But with each word her voice was growing louder and louder, up to the point when it felt like a scream, a scream of determination, filled with charisma that could easily lead the crowd, and now it was leading her, and it was leading him, because, _damn_, life is a fight itself and she deserves to win it, because she's better off than those people sitting here, not even knowing what she's reciting.

And then her voice began to shake as the fear crept in it, trying to take control over her. She smiled helplessly, even let out an inaudible laughter, because she was losing it. The words that had just materialized from her lips were now surrounding her, building a wall which separated her from the world and left her alone, far away from anything and anyone that could hurt her, yet so close to the desperation and pain that was filling up the space around her that she was almost able to touch it, to taste the metallic bitterness of it on the tip of her tongue.

As the last world rolled out of her lips, the wall immediately came down and she was again the same Aria that entered the classroom, that sat in the third row and had read every book he mentioned on his lessons.

"Excellent as always. I'm giving you A, but you know you're out of scale." he said, inscribing her grade in the register. She whispered a "thank you" and smiled bashfully before hiding her nose in the book.

After Aria's recitation, the whole lesson was a pure torture for Ezra. Well, maybe besides Spencer Hastings's performance which went out pretty good, yet seemed somehow dull in comparison with Aria's one. When the bell finally rang, its sound was sweeter than ever.

The students started to pack their things and leaving the classroom as Ezra ordered Aria to stay in the classroom for a while. She seemed a little startled, probably wondering what was wrong, what she did wrong, but did her best to keep her head up, her posture straight.

"Aria, I have an enquiry for you. Well, more like an offer. I am forming a school's theater group and I was wondering if you would like to join it. The class will be on Mondays and Thursdays at 4pm.", he asked, waiting for her to reply.

She stared at him for a second in unbelief, her lips curving in a joyous smile. "A theater group? That's great! I would love to join, of course if you think I'm good enough to-"

"Yes, you are. You're a great speaker and I'm sure you're a great actress as well.", he cut off, happy that she said yes. She was his best student and he felt like this group couldn't exist without her. She will be a light of it.

She smiled a little, her smile showing her unusual modesty. "So I'm in", she said and then, while exiting the classroom, added: "Thank you. For creating it and for wanting me in it. Goodbye, Mr. Fitz"


	2. 2 Beginning

**A/N:** Thank you so much for the lovely feedback! I'm really happy you enjoy the story and I hope it won't disappoint you ;) Things start to be a little twisted, but don't try to untie them - for now they're only going to get stranger... you'll see.

* * *

"Dear students", began Ezra, clearing his throat and breaking the awkward silence, "You are going to learn how to act, or at least how to act like you actually know what you're doing. So, please, take your seats and let's start!", he rubbed his hands in undeniable excitement and placed a blank page in front of each student. They looked at him, puzzled, trying to figure out what's going on.

"Well, on the first lesson, we have to decide what to play, yes? What do you think about Macbeth?", he asked, raising one eyebrow. The silent sighs of dicontent hovered in the airless room. He looked at Aria, and when their eyes met, she gave him an 'I-don't-know' look and shrugged her shoulders.

"It can be interesting", she supported him.

"More like boring. Macbeth's no fun!", Noel Kahn huffed, scanning the room for any form of approval.

"And what did you expect? High School Musical?", murmured Aria, rolling her eyes in a sketchy, theatrical way. Ezra laughed a little, "That's a good one", he said, looking at Aria, who returned his smile.

"Shut up, Montgomery", Noel teased in a friendly way and Aria clapped him with her notebook. "You haven't even read this, Kahn. How can you know if it's fun or not?"

He rolled his eyes too, not sure what to answer. Aria smiled at him, clearly satisfied with the turn of events.

"Ok then, dear Mr. Kahn, whether you like it or not, we're going to play Macbeth. But,", Ezra stressed, "in an untraditional way. I want you to think about the hidden, universal meaning of the story. We know that Macbeth killed the king, but by killing the king..."

"He rejected his own values", Aria cut off. "The act of killing the king was one of the most symptomatic moments of the book. And it's not only because the king was his first victim, but because it sets the seal on the process of his own, psychical death."

Ezra smiled, pleased with her knowledge. So he was right, she was always paying attention to his lessons. "Very good, Aria. Great memory.", he complimented her, to which she thanked, but he could sense a note of anxiety in the way her feline, big, fern green eyes shined dangerously. A little bit startled, Ezra dropped his gaze and swallowed slowly. "So, class... take those pages home and think about how can we remake Macbeth for it to take place in 21st century but - I underline - without it loosing its original meaning. It can be a whole story, few sentences or even few words, it doesn't matter. On our next meeting we'll try to put those pieces together and create a script. So, give it your best shot, and, if you didn't come here willingly", he gave Noel a meaningful glance, "make it your homework. Which I'll properly check." After that, Kahn sighed for something that felt like a thousandth time today. The teacher clapped his hands and ordered: "And now's the most awaited part: that's all for today, class. You can go now. But remember, that's just the beginning, next time I won't let you go that easily.", he finished, his last sentence interrupted by the grinding of moving chairs. He started to pack his own things, and when he was shutting his briefcase, Aria Montgomery appeared by his desk.

"Mr. Fitz? May I take you a minute?", she asked.

He looked at her, uncertain of what she wants from him. That's when he realized they were alone in the classroom - the other students had already left. It was only him and an over-ambitious student named Aria Montgomery, with her electrifying gaze, her long, wavy, ebony hair, cascading over her shoulders... well, a pretty student, but still a student. A student who was asking her teacher, a one lost dreamer, a simple question.

"Yes, of course.", his own, low voice shook him out of reflection. "I'm listening."

She smiled again, so gently that it was almost invisible. "I'm afraid I won't be able to attend the next lesson."

"Uh.", he breathed, feeling somehow... disappointed, was it? "Why? Are you giving up the lessons?"

She shook her head abruptly as a sign of refutation. "No, of course not! I am happy for those classes, I really am. It's just that I have this funeral..."

_Oh, the funeral_, Ezra thought. The funeral of the infamous Alison DiLaurentis, a bully of many and a friend of few, including Aria Montgomery. He wondered how could they be friends, how could a warm-hearted, kind, a little shy Aria be close to a bitchy, ruthless person like Alison? The idea of it seemed almost impossible, but somehow it was true.

"Your friend's, right? Alison DiLaurentis?", he questioned, as if he hadn't known the answer.

"Exactly.", she admitted in a sad voice.

"There's no need to worry, then. I almost forgot about it, but the whole school is coming, me too. Even though I didn't have a chance to meet her personally, she still is, well, was, a part of this community, a part of Rosewood, that deserves a due goodbye. There'll be no classes this day.", he explained.

She looked at him, trying to reach deeper, to see beyond a teacher, to see a _person_. Her knowledgeable eyes seemed to suck up his soul, strip it of the secrets it held.

"Thank you, Mr. Fitz. It really means a lot.", she finally spoke.

"What means a lot?", he asked, surprised at her words.

"That you don't judge her. Most people see her as a catty girl, a blonde wannabe, not even trying to understand her. They look on her as an Alison, the queen bee of Rosewood High, but they put no effort to dig deeper, to see the real Ali, who was a great friend of mine, of us four.", she explained, her voice somehow stern, odd, but still undeniably sweet.

"Well, there's nothing to thank for. I didn't really know her, and if you don't know the person, you shouldn't judge them. Appearances can be deceptive.", he said, feeling a pang of guilt at what he was previously thinking. Maybe Aria was right. It wasn't wise of himself to think that way of an unknown girl.

"You have no idea how much", she agreed, moving towards the door. "Goodbye, Mr. Fitz. See you at the funeral."

And with that, she was gone.


End file.
